Israeli Minister of Environmental Protection Amir Peretz said that settlers who fled settlements neighbouring the Gaza Strip make Hamas victorious.
Peretz said, during an interview with the Israeli radio correspondent Nissim Keinan last night, that the government should support the settlements near the Gaza Strip economically and on the security level.
Meanwhile, Keinan reported that many residents are afraid to return to their kibbutzim near Gaza because of the Palestinian resistance’s missile fire.
Israel’s Channel Two recently reported that 90 per cent of the residents around the Gaza Strip have fled their compounds since the beginning of the ground operation amid increased fears of Hamas operations against them through cross border tunnels.